Page:The Science of History and the Hope of Mankind.djvu/51



general European conflict until the constitutional struggle between the King and the people was brought to a satisfactory close, and the miserable policy of the later Stuart kings of seeking subsidy and help from the French monarch was abolished and replaced by the practice of receiving grants from the Parliament by timely concessions.

One of the first tasks of William's life-work was, therefore, the accomplishment of the English Revolution. It was thus only a stepping-stone to the grand European mission of his life; at once a concomitant and a means to the general continental movements of the time.

Martin Luther started his scheme of religious reformation in the sixteenth century; it took about a century and a